Roelof Andries Smit (born 11 January 1993 in Queenstown, Eastern Cape) is a South African

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player for the Lions in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

, the Golden Lions in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

and the Lions in the Rugby Challenge. He also represented South Africa against the Barbarians in 2016. His regular position is flanker.

Career

Youth

He represented the at the 2009 Under-16 Grant Khomo Week and at the 2010 Under-18

Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The tou ...

. He then joined

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

-based team the and represented them in the Craven Week competition in 2011. In 2012, he was a member of the Blue Bulls teams that finished runners-up in the

2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2012 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was contested from 13 July to 27 October 2012. The tournament featured the Under-19 players from the fourteen Currie Cup unions. Competition Division A There were seven participating teams in the 201 ...

, making ten starts and scoring three tries.

Blue Bulls

He made his senior debut for the during the

2013 Vodacom Cup The 2013 Vodacom Cup was played between 9 March and 18 May 2013 and was the 16th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First ...

, when he came on as a substitute against the . A further two appearances followed that season. In 2013, he signed a contract extension to keep him at the until 2015. He signed a further extension in 2015 to remain in Pretoria until the end of the 2017 season.

Representative rugby

He was included in the South Africa Under-20 squad for the

2013 IRB Junior World Championship The 2013 IRB Junior World Championship was the sixth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in France by rugby's governing body, the IRB. A total of twelve nations played in the tournament ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smit, Roelof South African rugby union players Living people 1993 births Blue Bulls players Bulls (rugby union) players Rugby union flankers People from Queenstown, South Africa South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Golden Lions players Western Province (rugby union) players Rugby union players from the Eastern Cape Cheetahs (rugby union) players